


the earth is shaking and i see a light

by blancsanglier



Category: Bleach
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-08
Updated: 2016-09-08
Packaged: 2018-08-13 23:05:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 1,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7989439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blancsanglier/pseuds/blancsanglier
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of drabbles, oneshots and super short meta fic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Home

**Author's Note:**

> what you see here are my first ventures into writing after quite some time. i'm a little rusty, but i aim to improve!  
> hope you enjoy! :)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this one was like diving head first into cold water. first attempt at 'fic' in over a year..  
> written for the wonderful blog deathberryprompts on tumblr.
> 
> many thanks to @sequence_fairy for her words of encouragement and support, and for running the prompts blog! it's exactly what i needed to kick my ass into gear.  
> and thanks for always making me feel i belong :)

They’ve reached the point where dusk gives way to the twilight hours.  
Somehow, the day feels like it’s already over.  
Tomorrow and all its endless possibilities has spread out in front of their very eyes; all warm honeyed hues.

Lying on the riverbank, fingers entwined like the lingering wisps of clouds left in the sky, they’re not ready for it to end.

Rukia sighs in contentment and Ichigo feels his heart flutter.  
They’ve taken to quiet evenings together, far away from everything and everyone else.  
After the danger abates, it’s the simplest things that bring them closer to defining “home.”


	2. time is flowing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 686? what 686?

They’re not ready; To say goodbye. To move on.

And they’re not sure they ever will be.

The world will continue spinning wether they’ve caught their breath or not.  
This is something they’ve always known.  
This is something they’ve always managed to defy.

And yet, the world is different now.

When your whole world becomes one person, how do you leave it behind?


	3. Dancing Moon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this was just a silly scenario that wouldn't leave my head until i wrote it. my thanks, as always, go to @sequence_fairy for the encouragement and support.

Zangetsu nimbly slices through the thick summer air. Ichigo sits in the dirt of the training grounds, watching the uncharacteristic lilting dance of its arc and feels his cheeks burn.

There is a fleeting grace in the thrust of Zangetsu which he could never quite manage.

Sweat trickles down the back of his neck. He shivers.

Dragged into shunpō, the large blade collides with one- two- three- targets. Pausing in front of the fourth, Zangetsu held high above her head, Rukia turns to look at him.

“Did you just.. moan!?”

“I-uh. WHAT!?”

Ichigo sputters, suddenly so painfully aware of his surroundings. He recognizes a familiar weight growing in the lower half of his shihakushō.

“You did! You definitely just moaned!” She drops a hand to cover her mouth; roiling laugh threatening to spill from her lips.

“N-NO! I-I.. I was just appreciating your precision, that’s all.” He huffs, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Well now, Kurosaki-fukutaichō, what am I to do with you?” Rukia rounds on the final target and slams Zangetsu square into it. Smirking, she turns toward Ichigo.

Feeling the full weight of Rukia’s intent gaze, Ichigo squirms and shuffles backwards in the dirt. She’s on him in an instant and he can’t help but wonder if her shunpō has gotten even faster.

Ichigo’s back hits the dirt and she’s suddenly towering over him, foot planted firmly on his chest.


	4. "I can't take this anymore."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> chapter title is the prompt from tumblr.

Ichigo cuts a lonely figure sitting on the riverbank, crumpled in on himself.

He sees nothing of the sunset splaying out across the sky in front of him. Instead, his vision is filled by images of a petite shinigami disappearing before his eyes.

The resounding emptiness in his chest is suddenly filled by anger. Anger at himself. Not her. Never her.

“I can’t take this anymore,” he sobs.

Jaw clenched, tears flowing; he finally erupts. The cry of a singular name echoes over the flowing water.

__________________________________________________

Rukia sits lost in thought, brow furrowing over her tea.

It’s late, but she couldn’t sleep anyway. Images of sad brown eyes haunt her in her leisure time. Apparently, keeping busy only helps so much.

The night is still and crisp under the full moon. Snow blankets Seireitei and somehow she feels like it’s the wrong season.

“Will the guilt never end?” She sighs in resignation.

A chill runs down her spine as she thinks she hears her name carried over a longing cry.


	5. "I can't stop thinking about you."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> another tumblr prompt!

Sleeping in an unfamiliar place is a strange feeling, Ichigo realizes.

For now, he decides the floor of Kūkakū’s house suits him just fine. He’s bone tired from all the training. His mind spins on an endless loop, repeating the same sentiment over and over and over; a personal manifesto.

“I have to save Rukia.”

He can think of nothing else.

They’ve all joined him, no matter the varying reasons. Chad, Orihime and even Uryū. They’re all here, at his back. And yet, for all their freely given help, he feels selfish. He can think of only one thing. And yet, he doesn’t care.

“I have to save Rukia.”

He thinks it over and over, mind stuck on that one burning track. He thinks it and before he knows it, he is asleep.

___________________________________

Orihime cannot sleep.

She’s handled the training quite capably, but she cannot help but be consumed by worry and fear of the unknown. Her friends are everything to her, and that is exactly why she’s come.

She maintains a brave front for them, supports them with her childlike confidence.

A noise behind her startles her out of her thoughts.

“I can’t.. stop thinking about you..”

She turns, hopeful, to peer over at Ichigo.

“Rukia..”

The last three syllables are uttered with an awe she has never heard first hand. Orihime swears she feels a knife pierce her heart. A soft whimper escapes her lips. Tears begin to well.

She can’t look at him anymore.

Apparently, Kurosaki Ichigo’s subconscious does not waver from his waking attentions.

She closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and counts to ten. Laying down, her façade is back in place. She needs to be strong.


	6. seventeen months

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> written for deathberryprompts on tumblr! weekly prompt was 'memories.'

“Ichi-nii, have you gone through your closet for donations yet? They’re being picked up tomorrow!”

A beat. No reply.

Yuzu gently raps on the door.

“Ichi-nii? You okay in there?”

“..Yeah.” Comes the hushed, broken reply.

Spurred by her worry, Yuzu cracks the door open. Ichigo stands in front of his closet, staring at it while wearing a distant expression. He raises a hand to touch the closed door.

She opens her mouth to speak, on the verge of asking a question she might regret. A hand covers her mouth. She turns and finds Karin gently pulling her out of Ichigo’s room, shaking her head.

Karin shuts the door behind them and leads Yuzu downstairs.

“Karin-chan, what’s wrong?”

“Don’t you remember Ichi-nii doesn’t keep anything in his closet?” Karin gives her a pointed look.

Yuzu gasps and covers her own mouth this time.

“Those memories are pretty painful for him now.. Just give him some time.”

Yuzu looks down, acutely feeling Rukia’s absence.

“Yeah, I suppose you’re right.”


	7. fractures and fixes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> another drabble for deathberryprompts, this time it was 'shattered.'

Zangetsu has shattered more times than he cares to count.  
(The blade, he realizes, is him. It’s his soul, sharpened and weaponized.)

His hollow mask has shattered twice that amount.  
(Another manifestation. He comes to embrace it as he’s come to embrace Zangetsu himself. The fear has gone; as has the rain.)

Shattered bits of important relationships are all that remain as he’s on the ground at Ginjō’s feet.  
(Despair. It rains inside and out. The deluge is relentless. It keeps on coming and he reaches inward for a power that’s no longer there.)

He stands. Despair itself lies shattered on the ground.  
(She’s returned. His powers along with her. The rain stops once again. The moon appears. The rain is dried.)

His heart shattered when he saw Hakka no Togame.  
(The greatest enemy requires the greatest effort. Yet in the end, even Yhwach could not withstand the combined powers of absolute zero and the abyss.)

He lays beneath Rukia, completely and utterly shattered.  
(And he wouldn’t have it any other way.)


End file.
